BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (24 March 2014) – The April 15, 2014 deadline is fast approaching for persons keen on pursuing tourism studies at the college and tertiary level to submit applications for Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Foundation scholarships in 2014.Â
These awards are available in four categories, including the commemorative Arley Sobers and Audrey Palmer Hawks scholarships, named after outstanding past senior leaders of the CTO. Citizens of CTO member countries are being invited to apply for the annual scholarships and grants.
Since 1998 the CTO Foundation has provided 89 major scholarships and 124 study grants to deserving Caribbean nationals, amounting to just over US$813,000. The Foundation, set up in 1997, is registered in New York State as a Not-for-Profit Corporation, formed exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. Its main aim is to provide scholarships and study grants to students and industry personnel who are Caribbean nationals, from CTO-member countries, who wish to pursue studies in the areas of tourism/hospitality and language training.
Major Foundation sponsors include American Express, American Airlines, Interval International, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the CTO chapters worldwide and numerous allied members.
According to CTO’s director of resource mobilization and development, Bonita Morgan, fundraising for the Foundation is an important ongoing task to ensure that the region’s best talent can acquire the necessary funding to pursue their academic goals.
Scholarship recipient, Kerwin Hinson of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority is currently pursuing a Professional Marketing qualification via distance learning through the Professional Institute of Marketing and Business Studies in Trinidad. He praised the programme stating, “Receiving this award will help me to achieve my set goals for both my personal and career development. I am grateful to the staff of the SVG Tourism Authority for their continuous support and the CTO Foundation for making me the 2013 recipient of the Audrey Palmer Hawks Scholarship.”
Interested persons are invited to visit www.OneCaribbean.org for details on the scholarships and grants, as well as instructions on how to apply.
Companies and individuals keen on making a donation to the CTO Foundation are invited to contact Marvelle Sealy, programme assistant in the resource mobilization and development division at the CTO’s Barbados-based headquarters in Warrens, St. Michael, at msealy@caribtourism.com or (246) 427-5242.
